


Pittsburgh Vignettes

by justinlovesart



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-26
Updated: 2011-04-26
Packaged: 2017-10-18 16:49:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/191055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justinlovesart/pseuds/justinlovesart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a series of independent but interrelated post-513 vignettes set in Pittsburgh and illustrated by photographs I have taken in the city. While overall the romantic focus of the series is on Brian/Justin, other canon characetrs of the series figure prominently, especially Emmett.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Pittsburgh Vignettes

**Author's Note:**

> This is a series of independent but interrelated post-513 vignettes set in Pittsburgh and illustrated by photographs I have taken in the city. While overall the romantic focus of the series is on Brian/Justin, other canon characetrs of the series figure prominently, especially Emmett.

1.

Brian was standing outside, smoking by the curb across the street and observing the sequence of perfectly manicured lawn after perfectly manicured lawn.

[   
](http://photobucket.com)

Justin opened the front door and a cacophony of voices streamed out of Ben and Michael's home, Debbie and Mel audibly fighting for dominance over Emmett's laughter.

"I'm not judging," he said, before Justin could open his mouth. But Justin only smiled and looked back in the same direction as Brian's gaze.

"But?"

Brian shrugged. "It's all so... suburban."

"And that's bad, right?"

Brian could _hear_ the smirk.

"So fucking uniform," he insisted.

Justin took the cigarette from Brian's fingers and pulled two or three shallow drags, before returning it to him.

"No, it's not."

"Come on, Justin! I'm not saying it's bad. But look at these houses, these lawns. Look at the damn sky above: it's all the same."

"Look more carefully, Brian, pay attention. Striped awnings, strewn toys, raised voices coming from inside." Justin looked about, as if seeking something else, something specific. "Oh, and then there is you, standing right outside their home. And there's me, too, for that matter: believe me, I'm anything but uniform.

"And yet, it wasn't so long ago that you used to wear one." Brian put his arm around Justin's waist and pulled him closer as he finished his cigarette. "Fine," he finally conceded. "They get a pass because their lamppost is tilted."

[   
](http://photobucket.com)

"It's very queer," Justin agreed.

 

2.

[   
](http://photobucket.com)

The memory of his father taking him to see the Pirates' game came as sudden and nocturnal as many of Justin's more recent visits to Pittsburgh.

There was a time, he realized, when a baseball bat meant something altogether different to him.

"What's the matter?" Brian asked, more alert to his mood changes in this city than anywhere else.

But this was one of their rare nights together in recent months and Justin didn't want to spoil it.

"Nothing," he said. "I was just looking at the lights."

 

3.

Once he'd started attending Justin's events, Emmett could not get enough of art.

[   
](http://photobucket.com)

He saw it everywhere, whether real or painted or a combination of both.

[   
](http://photobucket.com)

It made him laugh.

[   
](http://photobucket.com)

"Oh, Teddy, isn't this wonderful? Doesn't it make you happy?" he enthused, taking mental notes for his next party. "What about introducing a dot night at Babylon?"

"Anything you organize is bound to be a success, Em," Ted replied, evenly. "Just let me know when you're going to suggest it to Brian."

But art, Emmett realized, could also make him cry, in ways he didn't expect and didn't mind.

[   
](http://photobucket.com)

"This reminds me of Auntie Lula," he said.

Ted was suddenly at a loss, because he knew that Emmett didn't mean that his famed aunt was anything like a drag queen. "Did she use to collect dolls?"

Em shook his head, letting a tear roll down his cheek. "No. But she wore lipstick on her deathbed."

 

4.

The Northshore guy was hot, and that was enough for Brian to fuck him.

[   
](http://photobucket.com)

It had nothing to do with his messenger bag.

 

5.

"Theodore, you're pathetic."

"I know, Bri," Ted replied, cheerfully. He squeezed Blake's hand as the cable car at the Duquesne incline started his climb. "Don't forget old. I'm old _and_ pathetic."

[   
](http://photobucket.com)

He couldn't have been happier.

He was turning 45 today and taking all his friends, his boss and his _fiancè_ (a word he'd taken to dropping into all possible and unrelated conversations) to "The Most Romantic Restaurant in Pittsburgh."

Mel and Lindsay had flown in from Toronto just for this and he marvelled again at how lucky he'd been for their forgiveness. _"Perhaps I deserve it?"_ he dared to suggest to himself.

As if reading his mind, Mel looked up and smiled.

"I took Lindsay to the see the view at the top on our first date," she said and Lindsay giggled.

Brian snorted. "And let us guess: you had a picnic."

"Or something like that." Mel turned towards Lindsay and one or the other, if not both, blushed.

Emmett was pointing out the different buildings and neighboroods to Ben, who was still the newest among them, and Ted liked that neither Debbie nor Carl would correct him when he got something wrong.

"Ah, how I love the three yellow bridges!"

Ted had heard the story before, and he was sure some of the others had, too, but he didn't mind listening to it again. For Blake it would be the first time.

"You see," Emmett continued, "I was quite alone when I first arrived, and a little scared. Pittsburgh, to me, was what New York may be to Justin right now. A place full of wonder, sure, but one where I was utterly alone. Until I met Godiva, that is, may she rest in peace. And do you want to know how she taught me not to be afraid?"

The pause was expected, but not less theatrical. Michael nodded for him to go on.

"She said 'Honey, this is a war, and as any great general would tell you, the fastest way to win a war is to conquer the bridges. That's exactly what you're gonna do: walk every single bridge that is walkable in this town, one after the other, chin up and head high. And if you wanna do it the Godiva way, you're gonna do it in high heels.' Which, my darling, was exactly, what I did, except that the heels only lasted through the Clemente, the Carson and the Warhol bridges. Then, I had to take them off.

And this is the story of me and the yellow bridges of Pittsburgh. Not that I love the others any less, mind you."

[   
](http://photobucket.com)

Ted wanted to cheer and clap his hands but by then the car had reached the top of the incline and it was time for all of them to alight. So he just smiled at Em that special smile of theirs, while holding Blake's hand a little tighter.

"Nevertheless, I'm not sending Justin nine-inch heels," Brian commented, loud enough for everyone to hear, as they started walking towards the restaurant.

 

6.

"From up here, it looks a bit like New York, don't you think?"

Brian walked to the ledge near where Michael was standing and looked down.

[   
](http://photobucket.com)

"Almost," he replied, after a while. Then he walked in the direction of Babylon and Michael followed him.

 

7.

"Look, Justin. Look where we've ended up!"

Daphne pointed at the house they'd shared during their student days.

He nodded and wished someone would climb through the bedroom window to smoke or read on the porch roof, as he'd done many times over the one summer it had been his.

"You used to draw over that roof," Daphne reminded him, as they both sat on a park bench outside the house.

Justin smiled. "When I wasn't distracted by other things."

[   
](http://photobucket.com)

 

8.

It was on a rare night when he walked across the Warhol bridge that Brian first noticed the empty shadows cast by the lampposts.

[   
](http://photobucket.com)

After that, he began to pay attention at the shades and colors of the night lights.

The city was full of them, but they rarely seemed to illuminate anything except the streets.

[   
](http://photobucket.com)

He wondered if the lights in New York cast similar shadows.

[   
](http://photobucket.com)

 

9.

"...and these," Debbie declared at the end of her tour, "are Brian and Justin."

Carl looked at the cactus plant, but didn't seem too convinced.

[   
](http://photobucket.com)

"I mean the two baby buds on top, next to each other, growing all prickly on prickly soil. Untouchable but ready to bloom."

Carl nodded, because there were things Debbie knew that he could only guess, and the mystery of Brian and Justin was one of those things. He didn't mind, because she'd enjoyed every moment of her day out at the Phipps Conservatory, finding a flower to match each member of her family, near or afar.

Now he was going to tell he which one he'd picked to match her.

 

10.

Whether in New York or Paris, Singapore or Rome, airports made Justin think of Pittsburgh.

[   
](http://photobucket.com)

He'd sit on new red leather, looking at the Cartier and Dolce & Gabbana stores that lined discreetly internet-wired halls, and remember fondly the aged carpets and crowded plastic seats of Pittsburgh International.

"You're forgetting the delightful aroma of old piss," Brian would tease him, checking the departure board for the flight that would take them back to the oldest of their homes.


End file.
